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The Enigma 2016 GOP Candidates – why two political neophytes are the front-runners

Political pundits (and I am not one) will tell you that the reason why two non-politicians in the 2016 GOP presidential campaign are leading in the polls is because people are sick and tired of the career politicians in Washington. We have heard this reason before and the candidates themselves like to rant about the corruption, big government, and too many regulations linked to Washington politics.

There is no doubt that the political system in Washington is dysfunctional. For the past seven years, the performance of Congress is one that could be characterized as an impotent group that has not work for the common good of the American people. Their lowest approval rating in their history is testimony to this.

It is certainly not difficult to understand how the Congress could sink to such a low level of dysfunction. Instead of positive accomplishments, the American people has seen nothing but negative accomplishments – greater cynicism, more racial conflict, more hypocrisy, more corrupt politics, the blatant disrespect for a sitting president, and the undermining of democracy.

While some of the problems that have led to the dysfunctionality in politics are inherent in the political system, they escalated when the radical Tea Party hijacked the GOP. Unable to control the undisciplined Tea Party members in Congress and their obsession with their anti-Obama crusade, the GOP contributed to the dysfunctionality of the Congress and in so doing failed to achieve any significant accomplishments.

Perhaps the only thing the GOP has succeeded in doing is to turn their supporters against the president and create doubt in the minds of many Americans that he is taking the country down the wrong path. The fact shows that despite their overzealousness to demonize President Obama he has accomplished many significant things – saving the country from an economic collapse, killing Osama Bin Laden, implementing the first comprehensive health care program, and promoting an agenda to benefit working class people.

The consequences of the GOP lack of leadership does not stop with the Congress, it extends to the 2016 presidential campaign. Two distinct consequences relates to the performance of the career politicians and the non-politicians. The established career politicians − Senators Lindsay Graham, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio; sitting Governors Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal, and John Kasich; former Senator Rick Santorum; and former Governors Mike Huckabee and Jeb Bush are all struggling in the polls. Their failure at the polls is nothing more than the rejection of their lack of leadership credentials and qualities that a president should have.

The second consequence is that the two front-runners, Donald Trump and Dr. Ben Carson are not politicians. Not only are they non-politicians they have no experience working with people in a social or community setting. We could easily draw the conclusion that I alluded to earlier that voters are tired of career politicians who have bankrupted the political system. The fundamental reason though is that the current crop of 2016 GOP presidential candidates are the product of the GOP’s poor leadership.

Whether it’s the GOP leaders; their congressmen/women, senators, or governors; or their 2016 presidential candidates they all have one thing in common – their intense dislike of President Obama. This dislike manifests itself in their speech, their obsession to undo the president’s accomplishments, and the climate of mistrust and hatred they have created. These are the things that diminish their leadership potential and make them unfit to be president.

Looking back at presidential campaigns, it is difficult to find a group of politicians that lack presidential qualities like the current group of GOP candidates. Their lack of leadership qualities and positive political accomplishments are the reasons why Donald Trump and Ben Carson are way ahead of them in the polls. Despite being political neophytes and having a personality that is not compatible with politics, conservatives prefer them to the career politicians. It is good that the electorate is made up of a group of people that is larger than conservative voters.